At the moment I heat my home with an oil fired central heating system, this also heats my hot water.I also have in the living room an open fire where I burn coal and logs.
Around this time of year we have to start planning ahead and buying in oil and coal.We have for the last few years gone through about 1200 litres of kerosene and 1ton of coal. This year we have a near limitless supply of logs due to a neighbour giving me permission to cut down all the large pine trees that are growing around her house, but oil and coal prices as we all know are going up and up.
I was reading somewhere that an open fire is probably one of the most inefficient ways to heat a room as 70% of the heat goes up the chimney so I was think of replacing the open fire with a log burning stove that also doubles as a boiler and if I connect the stove/boiler into the existing central heating system I could heat the living room and the other rooms at the same time .It sounds like a good idea to me but are there any plumbers or heating engineers out there that would like to give their opinion as to is it a good idea.
Burning pine logs as a primary heat source presents some problems especially chimney flu deposits which would require frequent maintenance. We use a natural gas boiler for our hot water that runs 24/7. If your only hot water comes from your boiler heat what would you do during the warmer months for hot water if you converted over to a wood stove boiler? Or would you keep a hybrid system, oil fired/wood fired? Depending on your fireplace size you could consider converting it to a Rumford fireplace which is much more efficent.
My thoughts exactly. How old is your house? It may have a Rumford. Most older homes around here have Rumford style fireplaces- mine does. Once when we were without electricity during a snowstorm we built a fire in one and closed the doors to the room. (the doors are rarely closed)It was not long until we had to open the doors because the room was too hot. It’s another reason to love old houses built back before central heating was the norm.
The Rumford fireplace may be just what Rory needs, however, I think that he should think about a completely new stove bearing his name. The Rory Bellows stove is sure to be winner. Does anyone have any good design ideas to get Rory moving in the right direction?
Your right about the pine logs ,a friends chimney caught fire because of useing to many pine logs without having the chimney swept.
I was hopeing to keep the system as it is now just with the addition of the stove/boiler, so it is as you say a hybrid system. A heating system with two boilers,I would still use the oil boiler in the summer for heating water.What I am really trying to do is use the wasted heat that is now going up my chimney with the open fire.
My house is only 8 years old and has a standard pre-cast concrete fireback.
The Rory Bellows stove sounds like a great idea, do you think the name fits the product ?
Doug tipple would be a great name for a beer. Give us Three pints of Doug Tipple please has a nice ring to it.
One of the ways to make a wood or coal stove burn more efficiently is to make a hotter fire by blowing in more air (oxygen). Of course, you also have to figure a way of not having most of the heat going up the chimney. Blacksmiths use a bellows to blow air to the bed of hot coals. I guess that is why I thought about your name in that context. The Rory Bellows stove would have two levels of efficiency. In overdrive, with the bellows really pumping, the stove would give off a bloody roar.
Matter of fact, I would love to own a brewing company bearing my name. The Doug Tipple Brewing Company sounds good to be. I’m afraid, though, that I would be like the deacon who went down into the cellar to pray. He got drunk and stayed all day. My wife would not approve of that, I am sure.
A hybrid system is not so easy to design, you need a knowledgeable engineer, I would not trust your average plumber to know all about the intricacies of flow reversion, check valves etc. You want to prevent that your wood-fired boiler heats your oil boiler for instance. So how the water circulates need to be carefully considered.
An additional problem may be that a solid fuel boiler should have a natural outlet for excess heat in case the electricity goes off and water cannot be circulated through radiators by the CH pump. So usually you add a gravity circuit, where the hot water rises usually to a hot water storage cylinder, which it heats before returning to the boiler. This is a safety requirement which your oil boiler does not need, as it switches off instantly when electricity fails. At least this is the case for fan operated oil boilers, not necessarily wick burners like some Rayburns.
Bet to get someone locally to have a look at your existing system.